JAZZ REVIEW : Mike Fahn’s Heavenly Horn

Saturday evening in the Brasserie at the Bel Age Hotel, an attractive new jazz room, Mike Fahn offered what amounted to a master class in the art of playing the valve trombone.

In the entire history of jazz, only a handful of musicians have succeeded in achieving improvisational control of this demanding vehicle. Fahn seems to have all the requisites: a bronzed, burnished sound, technique and ideas to spare, with each note in the right place at the right instant, and a crisp attack that is peculiar to this instrument.

On most tunes he set up a mood via a long, a cappella introduction that led one knew not where; it might turn out to be “Alone Together” or “In a Sentimental Mood.” As this series of cadenzas ended, the rhythm section would ease in and Fahn presented the melody, followed by his own variations and those of his sidemen--chiefly Tom Ranier at the piano.

On one number, Dave Brubeck’s “In Your Own Sweet Way,” Fahn switched to the more orthodox slide trombone, but this clearly is not his true medium; he becomes just another capable soloist, whereas in his manipulation of the valves he is very close to being one of a kind.

The set came to a spectacular end as the quartet let loose with a furious rendition of “Billie’s Bounce,” with Fahn in phenomenal form, Trey Henry chording away in a splendid bass solo, Ranier taking over for a suspenseful, unaccompanied interlude, and the drummer, David Hocker, getting in his licks.

Given the right exposure, Fahn could well be responsible for a renaissance of a horn too long neglected in jazz circles.